Water conservation is becoming a major issue for many cities towns, and communities and an apparatus for real time monitoring of water and water energy uses at specific residential, corporate, (or government) sites could be useful in supporting water conservation and in assessing and controlling water resources. Periodic droughts and increased population that escalates the demand for fresh water sources which is a humanity concern.
In addition, losses to residential property and industrial/commercial facilities caused by broken water pipes, or unobserved leaks are staggering. In part because broken water pipes often go undetected in the absence of the property owner or while the property owner sleeps through the night, water damage from a broken water pipe can be catastrophic. In fact some insurance agencies report that up to seventy percent of their insurance losses are water related.
Furthermore, it has been reported that in residential homes, leaks still amount to a significant percentage of the total water use.
For non-water related operations, the SmartMeter™ System, manufactured by GE and Landis+Gyr, collects electric and natural gas use data from a home or business. The SmartMeter™'s electric meter records and transfers residential electric use hourly, and commercial electric use in 15 minute increments. The SmartMeter™'s natural gas module(s) attached to a gas meters records daily gas use. The data collected by the SmarMeter™ is periodically transmitted via a secure wireless communication network. The SmartMeter™ system uses programmable solid-state meter technology that provides two-way communication between the meter at your home or business and the utility, using secure wireless network technology.
The solid-state digital SmartMeter™ electric meter records hourly meter reads and periodically transmits the reads via a dedicated radio frequency (RF) network back to a defined municipality. Each SmartMeter™ electric meter is equipped with a network radio, which transmits meter data to an electric network access point. The system uses RF mesh technology, which allows meters and other sensing devices to securely route data via nearby meters and relay devices, creating a “mesh” of network coverage. The system supports two-way communication between the meter and PG&E. SmartMeter™ electric meters can be upgraded remotely, providing the ability to implement future innovations easily and securely.
The electric network access point collects meter data from nearby electric meters and periodically transfers this data to defined municipality via a secure cellular network. Each RF mesh-enabled device (meters, relays) is connected to several other mesh-enabled devices, which function as signal repeaters, relaying the data to an access point. The access point device aggregates, encrypts, and sends the data back to the defined municipality over a secure commercial third-party network. The resulting RF mesh network can span large distances and reliably transmit data over rough or difficult terrain. If a meter or other transmitter drops out of the network, its neighbors find another route. The mesh continually optimizes routing to ensure information is passed from its source to its destination as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Most residential and commercial water supply lines have a primary water meter. However, the location of the primary water meter is usually not readily available or not in a convenient location for a commercial owner or occupier, or a resident to observe. Even if the primary water meter is available for review by a commercial owner or occupier, or resident, the display is a simple continuous or cumulative gauge that does not allow the reader to readily monitor their daily, weekly, monthly, and annual water uses. Furthermore, the primary water meter does not have the capability to wirelessly transfer water use information to a remote display (or recorder with data collection/database) that is conveniently located for review by the owner or occupant of a residence or building to encourage water conservation. In addition, the primary water meter only monitors commercial or residential supply water, and there is no capability to analyze hot and/or cold water use to provide water energy use information or distinguish between indoor and outdoor water use.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a smart water meter for residential homes and condominiums, companies and businesses, and governmental and institutional housing.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system whereby residential property owners/renters or industrial/commercial owners may easily monitor their water use on a real time basis, either daily, weekly, monthly or yearly.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a system to alert a residential property owners or an industrial/commercial owners of a potential water leak condition.
Additionally, it is an object of the present invention to provide such a system that may be conducted manually or automatically.